Take eight steps back, Psy and Biebs. Another YouTube star is born today as Nefertiti, the first-ever “spidernaut” who was the key element to the winning YouTube Space Lab experiment has made it home safely and will live out the rest of her life at the Smithsonian Museum.
Nefertiti is the first jumping spider to successfully return from space and adjust to life on Earth after a 100-day stay aboard the International Space Station. “Neffi,” as she’s called by friends, will take up residence starting today at the Insect Zoo in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Courtesy of NASA. Nefertiti, the red-backed jumping spider hunting for flies inside her space flight habitat on board the International Space Station.
The jumping spider experiment was one of two winners from thousands of ideas submitted to YouTube last year with the hopes of being sent to space as part of the Space Lab competition. Relive the epic story of YouTube Space Lab below.
Captions are important to make sure everyone—including deaf, hard-of-hearing, and viewers who speak other languages—can enjoy videos on YouTube.
In 2009, you first saw a feature that automatically creates captions on YouTube videos in English, and since then we’ve added Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. Today, hundreds of millions of people speaking six more languages—German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Dutch—will have automatic caption support for YouTube videos in those languages. Just click the closed caption button on any of these videos to see how it works:
Now in 10 languages, automatic captions are an important first step in the path toward high-quality captions for the 72 hours of video people upload per minute. As automatic captions will have some errors, creators also have several tools to improve the quality of their captions. Automatic captions can be a starting point, where creators can then download them for editing, or edit them in-line on YouTube. Creators can also upload plain-text transcripts in these languages, and the same technology will generate automatically-synchronized captions.
You now have around 200 million videos with automatic and human-created captions on YouTube, and we continue to add more each day to make YouTube accessible for all.
England had The Beatles. Ireland has U2. Taiwan has Mayday.
Taiwan’s Mayday (五月天) is the biggest name in Chinese rock today, with tens of millions of fans across the globe. No doubt they will be making even more fans when they perform at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California on Wednesday, November 28 at 7pm PT, and livestream it to the world on YouTube Presents and Mayday's YouTube channel.
After the concert at 8:30pm PT, Mayday will hold a Hangout with fans on Google+. To get a chance at joining this Hangout, post a question you want to ask the band with the tag #HangoutsWithMayday on Google+. Seven lucky fans will be invited to participate.
The first ever Chinese-speaking band to perform at YouTube Presents, Mayday announced their visit at Google’s office in Taipei last week, as they start their U.S. tour promoting their newest album Album No. 8 (作品8號).
Tune in to the livestream for a bit of Mayday to warm up your November, and subscribe to Mayday’s YouTube channel to get the latest videos from the group.
The new YouTube app for Nintendo Wii U brings the YouTube videos and channels you love to your living room, and with the Wii U GamePad you can quickly search for great videos to watch. From the new Super Mario Bros to music videos, there’s endless HD entertainment available to you on the YouTube app.
Nintendo's GamePad makes it fast and easy to find YouTube videos, with the GamePad touchscreen keyboard.
Take advantage of your big screen TV and enjoy YouTube HD videos in up to 1080p. When you're watching a video, you can also see all the video details on your GamePad.
Looking for something new to watch? Flip through your subscribed channels and categories like Gaming and Music.
The YouTube app for Nintendo Wii U is now available for free download from the Nintendo Wii U main menu.
Starting today, channels across YouTube will host concerts from some of the most vital musicians in the game -- and you’ve got a free ticket to watch them all live. Because we know you’re going to have to plan your schedule carefully to catch all the shows, we’ve laid ‘em out for you: when, where and how you can watch.
Saturday, November 17: Bud Light Port Paradise with Pitbull and more Pop stars in paradise? Sounds like a recipe for success to us. Watch Far East Movement, FloRida, Wiz Khalifa and Pitbull live from the Bahamas, starting at 1:30pm PT on youtube.com/budlight.
Saturday, November 17: Zac Brown Band These dudes define country cool -- they’re low-key, but they have true cred and lots of hits. Who doesn’t want to see them play Madison Square Garden? 6pm PT on youtube.com/fuse.
Sunday, November 18: American Music Awards Red Carpet For those of you who prefer music’s glam side, watch pop stars strut in all their finery before Sunday’s American Music Awards show. Word is some guy named Psy will make an appearance. Starts at 2pm PT on youtube.com/awardsshownetwork.
Monday, November 19: Rihanna The pop princess returns with a new album next week, and to celebrate, she’s doing seven shows in seven days, all over the world. Catch her London show live at 1pm PT on youtube.com/rihannalive.
Tuesday, November 20: Alicia Keys And last, but SO not least, the divine Alicia Keys will premiere her entire new album on Tuesday via a Google Hangout streamed live on youtube.com/aliciakeys. Just when you thought you couldn’t love her any more than you do.... Tune in at 4pm PT.
Designed for the big screen and Wii Remote, the new YouTube app for Nintendo Wii brings the YouTube videos and channels you love to your TV. Wii owners in the U.S. can download the app today from the Nintendo Wii Shop Channel, and we’re bringing the app to more countries in the coming months. Here’s what to expect with the new app:
Start your YouTube journey on Wii by signing in to find the channels you’re subscribed to. You can also flip through categories like Gaming, Music, trending videos and more.
Last night in Washington DC, YouTube was proud to accept the News Innovation Award from the International Center for Journalists, an organization dedicated to promoting a free, independent press around the world.
As CEO Salar Kamangar told the audience, YouTube is an unusual recipient because we are not journalists. But we are news junkies, and we know you are, too.
Fully a third of searches you do on YouTube are news-related. You share events unfolding in your backyard to bring new perspectives to breaking news. You watch live streamed events from our news partners in the millions, no matter where you are in the world. And some of you even risk everything to provide a window into global conflicts that would otherwise go unseen.
So thank you ICFJ for recognizing YouTube’s community in this way. Here is Salar accepting the award on behalf of all of you.
In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels are seeing significant growth but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. This month, we’re sharing with you four dedicated partners who are getting quite close to hitting that milestone so you can help give them a chance to jumpstart their audience development and channel growth. Our November nominees have already built strong follower networks by sharing their passions about fashion and beauty, VFX and cinematography, songwriting and music, and green science education.
Here’s where you come in - you actually have the chance to help push these partners even further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured on the YouTube homepage later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner will be featured on the homepage, Google+, Facebook and Twitter at the end of the month.
In past months, featured On The Rise partners like GoneToTheSnowDogs and RichardGaleFilms have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until November 20, 5pm PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see who secured the homepage feature on November 28.
AllThingsFabulous101 Asia gets back to basics in her videos, offering style and beauty tips and tricks for beginners. A self-described fashion and makeup lover, her channel is a great resource for a ton of easy how-tos, tutorials, and hauls.
polcan99 Simultaneously wearing hats as a director, cinematographer, and animation/video effects artist, Tom Antos has nearly 15 years of experience in the film industry. You can check out a sampling of his projects (which range from music videos to feature films to DIY projects), VFX skills, and even behind-the-scenes tutorials on polcan99, one of several channels Tom manages.
krissysings Krissy and Ericka Villongco are sisters who play and sing pop-acoustic music. This duo hails from the Philippines and released two albums in 2012 and 2009. Their channel features a variety of their covers and original songs. Check it out for some feel-good music.
GREENPOWERSCIENCE This environmentally-focused channel houses an array of educational videos about electricity, solar energy, and wind power. Dan and Denise, the creator-curators behind this project, also host live classes, but you can let your inner backyard scientist geek out and get a preview over at their channel.
If you’re interested in checking out more rising YouTube Partners, visit our On The Rise channel, which features nominees, trending partners and monthly blog winners.
Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “The World's Smallest Dog.”
What if you could send YouTube videos from your phone to your TV with a click of a button? It’s an idea we’ve been working on since 2010, and today we’re taking the next step.
Like a remote control, you can pause, scroll or skip to the next video with your mobile device as it plays on your TV. Since your devices are connected in the cloud, you can also do things like find the next video to watch from your tablet or browse around the web on your phone, all while the video plays on TV. You can even connect multiple devices to the TV to have your friends add to the playlist.
Stay tuned to see this feature coming to more devices and screens in the future. The next evolution of TV is in your hands.
Timbo Drayson, Product Manager, recently watched all of H+ The Digital Series on his TV.
Today is the big day! For those of you in the U.S., today means any number of things -- the end of "I approve this message", an hour off from work to vote, or simply the day when the country chooses its leader for the next four years. Regardless, it’s a day we’ve all been waiting for and the suspense is almost over.
After you’ve come back from your local polling place, settle in with YouTube and watch the results come in. We’ll have live coverage on the YouTube Elections Hub starting at 7 p.m. ET, when the first polls close on the East Coast. Follow along as the votes are counted, and watch live-stream coverage from ABC News, Al Jazeera, Larry King, the New York Times, Phil DeFranco, Univision, and the Wall Street Journal until the next President is named.
We’ll also have a live results map featuring real-time updates from the Associated Press -- you’ll be able to visualize and interact with the Electoral College map, as well keep track of the popular vote breakdown throughout the evening.
Tomorrow, voters across the United States will head to the polls to cast their ballot in the 2012 election. Regardless of whether you’re a veteran or first-time voter, taking part in the electoral process is a powerful experience, and one that we know many of you will document in some way, just like you did in 2008.
We want to see and hear from you tomorrow. Whether you’re vlogging about which candidate you support, capturing footage of the long line at your polling place, or encouraging your friends to get out of the house and go vote, we’re inviting you to send us your Election Day videos. You can either tweet them to @YouTubePolitics or include #YouTubePolitics in the video title, and a selection will be featured on the YouTube Elections Hub.
Be sure to check your state law for guidelines about what polling place activities are allowed where you live, and consult the Citizen Media Law Project’s Documenting Your Vote project before bringing your camera to your voting location.
